2019 Volkswagen Jetta: Return of the Great Cheap Car

At the retail level, VW management is earning back Americans’ trust the old-fashioned way: by putting it in writing. The Jetta includes the company’s six-year, 72,000-mile, bumper-to-bumper transferable warranty, which is roughly double the warranties of Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra or Ford Focus. VW calls it the People First Warranty but I think of it more as the “Go on, I’m listening” warranty.

Dieselgate was a massive failure of corporate governance that will haunt the company for years to come, but two good things have come out of it: One is VW being forced to change course on diesel sooner rather than later; the other is the VW’s return to form as a design-smart, value-oriented German brand. You know who’s not a value-oriented German brand? The rest of them.

The first-generation Jetta (1980), designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign, was an orthogonal paragon of cheap-car virtue. Over four decades the Jetta got bigger, rounder, more refined, more Audi-esque in its details. But by the time of the sixth generation (2011-2018), VW accountants were actively taking value out of the Jetta by what was called, also too precisely, de-contenting. This was especially true of U.S.-spec Jettas, which were effectively dumbed down from their European counterparts.

With the new Jetta, Volkswagen is trying the infinitely more popular re-contenting strategy. Even the base model gets the high-tech turbo four cylinder (1.4 liters, 147 hp, and 184 lb-ft of decently responsive torque) that returns a creditable 40 mpg on the highway. Other standards include full LED exterior lighting, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, Bluetooth connectivity, rearview camera and an electromechanical parking brake.

That’s the Hertz special, of course. I spent a half-day in May driving a Jetta in SEL Premium trim ($26,945 MSRP), which kicks in a panoramic sunroof, rain-sensing wipers and automatic headlights, leather seats (heated up front), widescreen LCD instrument panel, touch screen navigation, forward-collision warning and autonomous emergency braking. The tuneage is handled by BeatsAudio, so at least Dr. Dre got paid.

And, really, the Jetta trim walk can afford to be generous. This is Volkswagen’s sixth U.S.-market vehicle, from Golf to Atlas SUV, to be built on the company’s global MQB (transverse-engine front drive) platform. The interior is a topology of the familiar, the amortized-by-the-million, from seats to digital displays to switch assemblies. Volkswagen has engineered plenty of margin to start with.

Fortunately, Volkswagen’s self-similarity across product lines works pretty well. The Jetta’s suspension (MacPherson struts with lower control arms in front, twist-beam axle in the rear) is simple, cost effective and space efficient (although the Jetta’s trunk actually shrunk a bit in the redesign). The Jetta’s body feels rigid and lightweight—under 3,000 pounds to start—which imbues the sedan with an easy drivability edging into sportiness.

On a drive in the country, the Jetta presents as sorted and well damped, snubbed tight, glued together. Smells a bit glued together too. Plenty of rudder (electric-assisted power steering), plenty of brake (four-wheel discs).

So then, by the gross metrics typical of the compact sedan class, the Jetta’s road-holding and cornering overachieve. But the Jetta gives something away in cabin isolation. This is where you feel the pennies go out. The engine’s noise radiations needle into the cabin when you rev the engine. In lieu of soundproofing, the eight-speed transmission generally resists engine-revving unless you determinedly use the manual sequential shift gate. Most of the time it’s HPG (highest possible gear).

The engine’s stop/start exhibits a noticeable frisson. And yet I winced when I saw the stop/start function is defeatable; isn’t getting around emissions how VW got in its stew in the first place?

Still, compared with the original Jetta, which I well remember, the new car feels like it was built at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards.

The Jetta’s biggest problem is obvious: It’s a sedan in a crossover-crazed North American market. But a lot depends on presentation. For instance, sales of Honda’s Civics sedans were up last year.

Here it’s worth unpacking the new Jetta’s styling: formal (in the sense of a strong three-box silhouette); international (prominent brightwork grille); conservative in line. Around the globe the Jetta will be a lot of somebodies’ first proper, grown-up automobile—a chapter-of-life choice, a fork in the road. With the Jetta, VW makes a starter sedan worth having.

Write to Dan Neil at Dan.Neil@wsj.com